Happy Lowman is the quintessential biker badass. He loves the biker lifestyle: drinking, carousing, and taking care of business. What happens when fate literally puts him in the path of a woman that has always lived a simpler life? Will he be able t...
"Hey, Hap's back from his weekend with the old lady! Whatcha got in the bag?"
Happy rolled his eyes at Tig as he sat the bag of food on top of the bar. "Leftover pot roast and she's not my old lady."
Tig snickered as Bobby gave Happy a look. "She's good looking, has her shit together and cooks for you. You there every weekend, fixing shit and hanging out?" Happy nodded. "She cleaning up after you?" Again, Happy nodded, looking more uncomfortable by the second. Bobby snorted and grabbed the fork away from Tig. "She's your old lady." He took a bite of the pot roast and closed his eyes on a groan. "Man, marry this woman. Jesus, that's the best shit I've ever had."
Happy smirked as Jax and Clay came walking into the clubhouse with serious looks on their faces. Clay waved everyone toward the chapel, waiting until everyone was in and the door was closed to speak. He looked at Bobby with a raised brow. "Are we interrupting your dinner, Bobby?"
Bobby grinned and shook his head. "Nah. Hap's old lady made this. If he doesn't marry her, I might."
Clay turned a surprised look Happy's way. "You got an old lady?"
Happy shook his head, shooting daggers at Bobby. "Do we need to talk about my personal life?"
Clay grinned and shook his head. "Nope. Look, Elliott Oswald came to me for a favor. Some bastard kidnapped his kid and raped her. He wants us to find the scumbag. Do we need to vote on this one?"
All the men shook their head. They didn't need to vote on something like this. Even if Oswald wasn't a high-ranking member of the community, they'd track the man down that was responsible. Shit like that didn't happen in Charming if they could prevent it. Tig spoke up from his position to the right of Clay.
"Do they have any leads? A description at least?"
Clay shook his head. "Nah, the little girl's traumatized. Gem's at the hospital trying to dig up some info." He looked around the table then nodded. "Ok, let's see what we can find out."
As he stood up, Happy felt his burner vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and flipped it open to see a text from Josie.
I'm in Charming for a few days. Family stuff. I'll text you when I can.
Josie walked around the corner in the hospital hallway but backed up quickly when she saw Karen and another woman standing outside of Tristan's room, arguing quietly. She knew she was eavesdropping but really, she just didn't want to interrupt. She saw the other woman point toward the room then back at sister-in-law.
"You have to make her talk about it, Karen. Not only so that the police can solve this, but because she needs to say it, get it out of her head."
Karen shook her head. "You think she's going to be able to forget? I'd give anything to make that happen, but making her relive it isn't going to help her."
"That's not true. No, she won't ever forget, but making her keep it inside is going to make her feel like she's the guilty one, like she did something wrong. That baby doesn't deserve that."
Josie watched from her hiding spot as Karen shook her head. "She's not ready and I'm not going to force her. Now, I would appreciate it if you would just leave. We don't need your kind of help."
Josie sighed to herself and stepped around the corner as Karen went into Tristan's room and shut the door. She nodded to the woman as she walked up to the door. "For what it's worth, I think you're right."
The older woman lifted a brow and nodded. "Good to know. Who are you?"
Josie grinned and stuck her hand out. "Josie Harper. Elliott's sister."
The woman took her hand and gave her a small smile back. "Gemma Teller-Morrow. Why does your name sound familiar?" She studied Josie for a moment before she shrugged. "Oh well, it'll come to me."
Josie nodded. "I'll tell you what. Why don't I take Karen downstairs for some coffee? That way, if you wanted, you could speak to Tristan, see if she'll tell you anything. She's not telling us anything so it's worth a shot."
Gemma nodded then pointed to a waiting room. "I'll wait in there."
Josie nodded before opening the door and walking in to find Karen sitting in the only chair in the room. She smiled and patted her niece on the leg before tilting her head toward the door. "Why don't we go get a cup of coffee? Let Tristan have some time to herself." She winked at Tristan. "I'll sneak you in a milkshake or something."
Tristan gave her a small smile as Karen nodded and stood up. Once they were in the elevator, Josie looked at her sister-in-law and sighed. "She was right you know."
Karen looked at her for a moment before shaking her head. "Why doesn't it surprise me that you were eavesdropping on a private conversation?"
Josie's lips twisted into a fake smile. "Well, for one, I wasn't listening in, I was trying to stay out of it. For another, it's not private if you're whisper yelling in the middle of a hospital hallway."
Karen glared at her. "She wasn't right, and don't presume to tell me what to do with my child. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
Josie bit back the hateful words that wanted to spill out at Karen's reminder that she didn't have children. She shook her head as she reached over and hit the stop button. "You know what? You're right, I don't know. If Meghan would have lived, I... " She took a shuddering breath before continuing. "I do know that sometimes we try to shield those we love from awful things, but you can't do that if the awful thing is inside her head, Karen. She won't ever forget, but she will heal if you let her."
Karen stared at the wall for a moment before she sniffed and swiped at her eyes. "I know that, but... Elliott asked Gemma's husband to find out who did this."
Josie nodded, not surprised at all that Eli would do that. "Then you need to get the information from Tristan so that they can do that." She hit the start button before staring down her sister-in-law. "Karen?" When she looked at Josie, she continued. "If you ever throw my dead daughter in my face again, my brother will not stop me from gutting you."
